This is my 2nd projector, the first one was a 15". I'm going to using the Hassman style box(without a doubt one of the best things to have happened to this community besides the AG/TAC removal - thanks to Hassman and the pioneers of AG/TAC removal - you guys are beside yourselves )
Here is what I'll be using:

Monitor - 17" wide SGI 1600SW
Lamp/Ballast - Venture 400w Pulse-Strike and Matching ballast(not electronic)
Reflector - Undecided, but have Norpro, Ikea napkin holder & a mixing bowl from thrift store - needs polishing.
Lenses - 220/330 set from DIYProjectorCompany
Projection Lense - 342mm from a 3M 9800 overhead projector
2- 120mm SUNON FANS 3.2W 0.27Amp CFM = 84 - couldn't find dbs info for this fan.
... More to follow shortly

Dang it!! Each time I see someone build with a 17" it just makes me wish I had even for the second time around:(. Good luck japlasma.

Here is the box, wide enough to fit the 17"wide.

Here is a side profile.
Click to view attachment

Inside the box all painted black with high heat paint, also showing the center line.Click to view attachment

The 2 120mm fans installed but not hooked up.Click to view attachment

Here is showing frames painted next to the box.Click to view attachment

One of the things I wanted to accomplish with this build is portability. To achive this I decided to use 1/2 inch wood and build an external power supply and leave the PJ itself as light as possible. So the only thing inside the pj box is the lens assembly of cource, the projection lense at the front, the fans and reflector, everything else is housed in the box I call Power Supply - the next few pictures are those of the PS. Click to view attachment

Here is the fans and PS under construction...Click to view attachment

One side of the PS showing the hole through the cabling comes out.Click to view attachment

It took me a second to realize that the first picture had the box sitting on a table.
I was thinking to myself "Damn that thing is almost as big as the door!!!!".
LOL

Actually, the length of the box is 32 inches, could have made it shorter since It houses just the regular lenses, 220/330 and the ballast and everything else is NOT mounted inside it, but, I wanted to have room enough to play with.

I too have an external power brick. You've probably thought of this, but you can use one single 4-pronged connector between the power brick and the PJ. The 4th wire carries the voltage to the lamp with hot, neutral, and ground for the other three. The prongs on the plug are such that you cannot hook it up incorrectly. It's a bit pricey, but a one-time cost.

Same concept I have employed on mine, bevo77, really neat way of it, and yes, I agree with you once you wire your connections properly you can't "make a mistake", so to say. I used a multi prong connector but only wired the connections that I needed - ballast/lamp, fans, switches and ground.
Doing PS externally is a great way to achieve one of the objectives I had set out to to accomplish with this second build, and that's portabilty - I wanted to have a PJ that's light enough to load 'n' go; with the heavy ballast sitting in it's own external box, it's so convenient to load them separately(I put a handle on the PS last night - love it.)
Here is the picture of the connectors I used.Click to view attachment

I'm having a real difficult time uploading pictures for the simple reason that they are too big. Here is another angle to the connectors...Click to view attachment

Here is the connector hooked up onto the PJ.Click to view attachment

The already functional PS ready to fire, the box will need to be painted at a later time.
Click to view attachment

A temporary installation of the lamp, just wanted to get it centered for testing; my goal is to use some of those brackets that allow for FF/REW and UP/DOWN movement that others have so successfully used, I have been to several hardware stores but have been unable to get them - any ideas?
Click to view attachment

First fired up...

Click to view attachment

From the front side after five munites. At this point the lenses are not mounted to the frames yet, I'll try that tonight.
Click to view attachment